


All The Rest

by dai



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bittersweet, M/M, Not Beta Read, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 08:33:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6045004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dai/pseuds/dai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Those are the better moments, no words or disapproving looks as he shuts them in the dark and takes him to bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All The Rest

Steve sleeps with the light on. 

Mostly by accident, waiting those long nights Bucky works late and not quite making it to the hour he comes home. Then, it's Bucky dragging his sorry hide off the floor so he doesn't catch another cold in the middle of summer. Those are the better moments, no words or disapproving looks as he shuts them in the dark and takes him to bed. Sometimes, they press close like a second skin and drift off. Sometimes, it's wandering hands and drowsy kisses, the back of Steve's neck the perfect spot to tease as they spoon or grind and stroke and muffle sounds any way they can—thin walls carry too much. Sometimes, they face each other and whisper about the future, Steve's eyes glossy with the idea. 

War's coming, they say. Something's on the horizon no one's going to be safe from, and Bucky hates the look Steve gets on his face when he talks about it, brave chatter that ends with Bucky smacking him with a pillow and rolling over to face the wall. 

Sometimes, the distance crawls between them like a heartache. 

Bucky fills those days with baseball and dancing and dames, booze and a light smoke in the back of an alley just so the smell never aggravates Steve's lungs. Steve hates it, he can tell, but it's a distraction from the news that eventually comes like a bomb one night halfway through his shift. He goes home to find Steve miraculously in bed, the light still burning high. It casts an eerie shadow on him, blond hair a halo, and when he leans to touch his thumb to his cheek, he decides, then, how to give Steve what he deserves. How to protect Steve from being Steve. And Bucky tugs himself out of his shirt and trousers like he's ready for the fight, waking Steve with a rough kiss that tears a quiet noise from his throat. 

"Buck?" Half asleep, an angel spread under him and fumbling for a grip on his hips. Bucky's mouth is hot on chilled skin, breathing every promise into him they'd never said aloud. _You're too damn good for me_ , he wants to say, but the only thing that comes out is a thick, "Stevie." 

Too loud, like a prayer he wants him to hear.

And they rut and fuck until Steve is gasping like there's no air in him, like Bucky's the very thing keeping him alive, but he doesn't stop. He presses and pushes until the mattress squeaks and the neighbors probably hear them. He makes Steve come with a mouth on his ear and his cock inside him, his thin legs trembling from the exertion of keeping them locked around Bucky's waist. All it takes is the soft slide of Steve's red-slick lips along his chin to end him, and Bucky's just as far over the moon for him as he'd been the first day they'd met. Maybe more.

They sleep with the light on like an afterthought, and James Barnes enlists the very noon after, long before the Draft can ever get him. He takes it with a sad smile, and Steve Rogers lies awake that night in the dark with the papers crumpled in his fist. He hadn't meant to knock over the lamp, but he doesn't apologize for it. He can't. 

All he does is stare at the ceiling between scrubbing at his burning eyes and plans.

**Author's Note:**

> A super late night attempt at something that's (hopefully) a little different. Written for a friend ♥ Thank you so much for the inspiration!


End file.
